Florian Hetz

Florian Hetz

Florian Hetz grew up in Bavaria started his professional career in opera and dance theatre in Germany. After working for television and in nightlife a severe encephalitis (brain inflammation) made him quit his professional life and focus on get healthy again. In this process he piked up a camera to document daily life as a visual diary to fight the potential memory loss of the damaged brain. In the beginning he mostly took photos of friends and lovers, but initially started to work with gay men with whom he had no previous relationship. Most of his models are no professional models. Confidence is more important for Hetz then physical perfection. Much of Hetz work circles around intimacy and the forgotten memories of a pre-coming out time. The memory one has of the sweaty arm pit of the best friend of the brother, or the hair on the back of the hand of the adored teacher, or the bulge of the neighbour that one secretly fantasied about. By taking close ups of those seemingly normal body parts and gestures he bring the focus to their highly sexual undertone. Like looking through a glory hole Hetz only shows a fracture of a situation, and the viewer is invited to create his own narrative.